Dara Murphy (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

It is a great pleasure to be here and I thank everybody, including members of the diplomatic community, for being present. I welcome the opportunity to contribute and I thank the Chairman for his kind remarks just now and during last night's Dáil debate on Brexit. I will give an update on Brexit but I will comment on the future of Europe following the meeting to mark the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome. This will be an important discussion for our country and the Oireachtas and this is the obvious forum to have some consideration in respect of that going forward. I will also comment on the European semester, which was discussed at the General Affairs Council, GAC. This is an ongoing process and, for example, the Minister for Finance will appear before the finance committee tomorrow to discuss it.

There has been a high-level activity on Brexit since I last engaged with the committee. In the intervening period, the committee has been particularly active and not just in terms of engaging with Departments and meeting key interlocutors in Brussels. The Chairman and Deputy Seán Haughey referred to their successful visit during yesterday's debate in the Dáil. The committee may have to make another visit. Such visits are beneficial in the context of giving our opinion. As they both stated in the Chamber, such visits also provide an opportunity for us to hear the concerns of other member states. That has been a significant element of my visits throughout Europe, which have been interesting and beneficial. The committee has also heard from other stakeholders, including the British ambassador. I commend the Chairman and the committee on the important work they are undertaking.

The important milestone was the triggering - finally - of the Article 50 process by the British Prime Minister ,Theresa May, as she formally notified the European Council of the UK's intention to leave the EU. The second milestone was the consequent circulation of draft EU negotiating guidelines by European Council President Donald Tusk to the 27 member states on Friday, 31 March. These draft guidelines will provide the political framework for the negotiations and will be discussed by the EU 27 in the coming weeks. They will be adopted following the GAC on Saturday, 29 April. Both Prime Minister May’s letter of notification and the EU’s draft negotiating guidelines represent a constructive starting point for the negotiations to follow. From our perspective, we welcome the reaffirmation in the letter of the British Government's commitment to maintaining the common travel area and its stated objective of avoiding a return to a hard Border on the island of Ireland. We are similarly pleased that the draft guidelines include a strong acknowledgement of Ireland's unique circumstances, the need to protect the peace process and the Good Friday Agreement and our intention to maintain strong bilateral arrangements, such as that relating to the common travel area, with the UK. Helpful language on Ireland was included in a comprehensive resolution approved by the European Parliament on 5 April. The committee's engagement with fellow parliamentarians was part of a national movement to have strong language included in all documents and credit must be given to the committee members and others.

More broadly, we are happy that both Prime Minister May’s letter and the draft EU guidelines are constructive in tone and show a pragmatic approach to key points, such as the need for transitional measures. That will go a long way towards providing certainty for citizens and businesses alike. It is also welcome that both the UK and the EU share the objective of having the closest future relationship and that discussions on this future relationship should begin in parallel with the exit negotiations. We were keen in that regard but, in order for this to happen, sufficient progress should be made on citizens' rights, the UK’s financial commitments and issues specific to the island of Ireland. It is a significant achievement that our issues will complement the other issues. We will continue to study the draft guidelines carefully. Our Sherpas were in Brussels again yesterday and we will keep an eye on the issues unique to Ireland and to the many other issues that arise.

The draft guidelines will now be discussed throughout April and the objective is to have them adopted by the European Council on 29 April. Presuming that the guidelines are adopted, negotiating directives will subsequently be prepared for the adoption by the Council. I will attend this meeting in May. One meeting is scheduled at the moment but that may not be the case. The negotiating directives will provide a formal mandate for the Commission negotiating team led by Michel Barnier, whom the committee has met, and will authorise the opening of negotiations with the UK, which will start at the beginning of June.

We can be happy with the extensive political, diplomatic and official campaign of recent months. There is understanding and recognition of our unique circumstances and specific issues, but this is the beginning of a long process and our work will continue. The fact that we have made a good start should serve to encourage us but that does not mean we do not have a significant body of work to undertake. We will continue our strategic engagement with EU partners, both in discussions among the EU 27 and bilaterally.

In the past nine months I have met 18 or 19 committees of member states that are similar to this one and their Governments and so forth last month. Last week I visited Lithuania and had very useful discussions. It was most interesting to hear their concerns about Brexit. It was an opportunity for me to emphasise our shared areas of concern and, once again, to reinforce that elements of the UK's decision to pursue Brexit are unique to Ireland. I have recently visited other countries such as Spain, Italy, Norway, Hungary, Austria, Slovakia, Greece and Romania. Norway is not an EU country but it has specific concerns as a member of the European Economic Area, EEA. We must continue negotiations into the future. There is a year and a half left of the first phase of Brexit negotiations before the matter goes to the European Parliament. It will play a role in due course.

I will touch on the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome and the future of Europe. As the committee will know, EU leaders met on Saturday, 25 March to mark the anniversary. They adopted a declaration that highlighted the achievements of the past six decades and set out the main focus of the European Union's agenda for the future. They committed to working towards four key aims: a safe and secure Europe; a prosperous and sustainable Europe; a social Europe; and a stronger Europe. The Rome Declaration is timely and welcome. It is a clear endorsement of the value and achievements of the European Union since its creation and a statement of determined unity of purpose that our future peace and prosperity is best preserved and promoted through the European Union.

As part of the Commission's contribution to the 60th anniversary, it presented a White Paper on the Future of Europe on 1 March. In addition to setting out the main achievements of the European Union, it addresses the challenges that Europe is facing. It presented five scenarios for how the Union could evolve by 2025, depending on how we, as Europeans, choose to respond. The main thrust of the paper is an attempt to look at some of the options or different paths that the EU could take over the next decade. The scenarios in the White Paper cover a range of possibilities. They are not exhaustive. While there are five options it is fair to say that they are not mutually exclusive. The Commission will further contribute to the debate in the months to come with a series of reflection papers on the following topics: the development of the social dimension of Europe; the deepening of the Economic and Monetary Union on the basis of the Five Presidents' report that was published in 2015; the harnessing of globalisation; the future of Europe's defence ; and the future of EU finances. Current indications are that these further papers will be released before the summer break. The White Paper has been presented as the beginning of the process, and not the end, with the intention of starting a wide-ranging debate between the Governments and, more importantly, the people of this continent on where our common future lies. It will start by asking what is the level of ambition that we hold. We welcome the publication of the White Paper. It provides lots of food for thought. It has set out a number of scenarios on how the EU might evolve in the period ahead. It is a non-prescriptive approach and is presented as an initial contribution. It is important that Ireland engages with this debate. As I said at the beginning of this meeting, it seems to me, and not speaking on behalf of this committee, that the obvious place to discuss this matter is with this joint committee that represents Members of both Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann.

The final element that the Chairman asked me to discuss was the General Affairs Council, GAC, and the European Semester process. The most recent meeting of the GAC took place on 7 March. As is the case in advance of a European Council meeting, the main topic on the agenda was preparation for the European Council. The Taoiseach has reported on this matter in the Dáil and I spoke about it on the same occasion.

I will give a briefly report on the European Semester that was also on the agenda. As members will know, the European Semester is the EU's annual cycle of economic policy guidance and surveillance. Each year the European Commission analyses the fiscal and structural reform policies of every Member State, provides recommendations and monitors their implementation. The aim is to create the conditions for more competitive and sustainable economies and social policies right across the European Union. This guidance from the Commission assists member states in co-ordinating their economic policies in order that we can all benefit from a shared EU economic agenda. It is important to note, the system enforces policies that we, as member states, have agreed to. It is not a third person coming in and enforcing European Union rules. These are rules that the Irish Government, and successive governments, have believed are in the best interests of all European Union citizens, collectively and individually. Each semester starts with a publication in November by the Commission of the annual growth survey that identifies economic and social priorities for member states. It concludes with the issuing of country-specific recommendations. These recommendations are concrete, targeted and measurable.

As part of the process, the Commission publishes country reports in February that analyse each member state's economic and social policies. Each April, Ireland, like other member states, submits its national reform programme to the European Commission, in conjunction with a stability programme update. Last week the committee received a copy of the national reform programme, NRP. The NRP is prepared on a whole-of-Government basis. It provides an overview of structural reforms and policy actions that are under way. It sets out the policies being advanced in response to the issues raised by the European Commission in its country report on Ireland. It responds to the country-specific recommendations addressed to Ireland as part of last year's semester process. Some of the issues addressed include: the decision of the UK to leave the European Union; public finances and investment; labour market activation policies and child care; the sustainable resolution of non-performing loans, which is a long-standing issue now; housing supply and spatial planning; and cost effectiveness of the health care system. We, as politicians, in these Houses are already aware that these are the burning issues that we must address. The NRP also reports on progress towards our national targets under the Europe 2020 strategy that covers: employment; research and development; climate change and energy; education; and poverty reduction. Stakeholder engagement is considered to be an important part of the process. Input and views are welcomed from a wide range of stakeholders, including representatives of civil society and regional representatives.

Together with the stability programme update, the NRP helps to inform the Commission's approach to drafting country-specific recommendations for Ireland for the coming year. We expect draft CSRs next month. These policy recommendations are then discussed in the relevant Council formations and will be discussed at the European Council meeting in June.

I would be more than happy to brief the committee afterwards about the process and any other element of the country-specific recommendations and I am sure other Ministers and their the finance Departments will do likewise.

Every time I am before this committee I apologise for the length of my intervention. They are substantive issues and I thanks the committee for staying with me while I go through them. I am happy to take questions.